Archives for December 2012

Happy New Year! 2013 seemed so far away, I can’t believe it’s January! I always say this but now I will spend months writing and scratching out 2012. It takes me forever to remember it’s a new year! So, what did everyone do last night to celebrate?

We ate pizza and watched LSU play in their bowl game, there were LOTS of fireworks going off and the dogs were none too happy about it. I put Sassy’s thundershirt on her because the poor baby was getting so nervous.

I wanted to do a little review of 2012, (like I did in 2011) to look back on the year and then look ahead to (hopefully) better things in 2013. 2012 definitely had some fun/high points, but there was also a lot of stress. DOn’t get me wrong, I had a blast many many days, but there was some yucky stuff too. Some of the things I have shared here on RWS and some I have not. There has been a lot of frustration and impatience, and trying not to focus on certain circumstances or the wrong timing of things. So, let’s take a look back and see what happened this year!

In May, Bobby and I went on a cruise and then met my parents in Disney to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary.

June brought lots of hot weather and Bobby’s 29th birthday. I was doing a lot more yoga and less long distance running.

July was my 27th birthday, and a beach trip so Bobby could get his continuing legal education credits at “summer school for lawyers.”

August brought distance running back into my life, preparing for the Disneyland half marathon and getting my coast to coast medal. I also flew to Boston to speak at the Healthy Living Summit and had a blast! We also hunkered down for a little thing called Hurricane Isaac, which ended up re routing our trip out to California.

In September we went to Disneyland for the first time, and ran the half marathon. I got my first coast to coast medal, and we can’t wait to go back!

October was an interesting month, we got a great deal too good to pass up on a cruise, we off we went with my parents as well. Upon return, I got very sick from a sea sickness patch, but still ran a half marathon (very dizzy one!) the day after we got off the boat. I ended up at urgent care that afternoon! I also ran the Jazz half at the end of the month, still struggling with health and injury problems.

November brought more health issues. I went to a cardiologist, had an echocardiogram, EKG, and wore a holter monitor. My dad had a conference in Orlando, so off we went again, and then ran the Wine and Dine half, while I struggled with some not so fun stomach issues. We saw a GI doctor upon return, had more tests run including an upper scope, blood work, and a gallbladder ultrasound, and I ended up on Prevacid.

Whew! quite a year. Not going to lie, 2012 left a lot to be desired for me. I tried really hard to not let my circumstances define me, but I did get quite anxious and frustrated by things sometimes. There were days when I thought I couldn’t take the craziness anymore, but of course I could, and did and am still pushing forward. There are a lot of times I just want to forget 2012, but then I remember it’s those not so fun experiences that teach me and grow my faith. Even when it’s tough, God is there with me through it all, and there are lessons to be learned in the things we don’t understand. Sometimes it’s just not time for things to happen how we want, and sometimes we may never know the reasons why this side of Heaven, but we ARE told to press on, and that God will give us the strength to endure if we believe in Him and ask Him to help us.

In 2012, I felt like I was living for the next day, when “things would be better” and was constantly waiting for the next thing to happen, and I don’t want to live like that! I want to live in the moment, and enjoy the present. If God chooses to change my circumstances, let it be. I am not in control and I do NOT know best! So 2013 is going to be “live in the moment” for me, whatever that means for that particular day. I want no regrets, and I don’t want to wish my life away. So who is with me? Let’s Live!

QOTD: Do you have a big goal for 2013? Do you find yourself living in the present waiting for things to happen?

Happy New Year! We went to a party last night, and tonight will be watching LSU play in their bowl game. So excited! What a great way to ring in the new year. Will we stay up until midnight? Uh…probably not. I have been quite the early bird as of late, and don’t foresee a change in that unless someone slips me some serious caffeine!

I could have used some caffeine when this photo was taken.

So, if you have been reading RWS since this time last year, you may remember that instead of making huge goals for all of 2012, that I would make small, more attainable monthly goals. When I make BIG yearly goals I tend to forget about them by oh…about the second week of January. But mini monthly goals I can handle, and are on my mind more often. I successfully had mini goals all throughout 2012, some I obtained and some I didn’t. I put pressure on myself to reach some more than others, but over all tried to keep it low stress because I, just like everyone else, already have enough stress to deal with.

1.) Enjoy the Christmas season. (B-) I watched tons of Christmas movies and tried to soak it in as much as I could, but I was dealing with a LOT of different things during the Christmas season this year that kept my attention in other places. There is always next year?

2.) Figure out what’s wrong with my health. (A-) I think we are finally getting things cleared up! The Prevacid seems to really be helping my acid reflux, and I am also working on getting my stress under control which I KNOW is a contributing factor. The only health issue I am still dealing with is my left leg, and my chiropractor and myself both think its a combo of tight hip and hamstring issues and some Achilles straining going on. He has put KT tape on me, and is doing some ART on my legs to get me through Goofy.

3.) Be more thankful. (B+) Still having good days and bad days with this one. Trying to focus more on my blessings and not my circumstances. Still needs work.

4.) Successfully finish my Goofy training. (C+) I don’t know if I would say it was SUCCESSFUL training, but I am in full taper mode. Still just hoping to finish in an upright position and to have fun with it!

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I really liked how I did the mini goals this year instead of huge yearly goals. However, I did write a few things down and put them in my stocking for safe keeping like I do every year, just because it’s fun to look back and see what i was expecting from the year…so more like “things I would like to see happen” as opposed to resolutions. So, here we go with January 2013!

1.) Finish Goofy in an upright position. Ah. Pretty self explanatory. Less than two weeks!

2.) Vlog more. Oh yes. Pulling this one out again. really REALLY want to do better about this the whole year through, but we will focus on it one month at a time. My goal is twice this month.

3.) Stretch more. My chiropractor definitely noticed the lack of flexibility both Bobby and I have, so we have been told to try to stand up and stretch once an hour. So far….I need some work on this.

4.) Stay healthy. This time of year I tend to get sick, so I am focusing on getting sleep, washing my hands, and taking EmergenC so I can stay well through my travels and the cold month of January.

I think that’s a good start, I will check back in with this at the end of the month to see how I did!

Good morning and Happy Sunday! Anyone racing this weekend? Long runs on the schedule? I ran 3 on Friday and 6 on Saturday as a back to back Goofy training run. I will probably do the same thing this weekend and then the weekend after that the race will be here! It snuck up on me so quickly, but I do believe I will complete my goal of finishing in an upright position.

So three rest days isn’t ideal, but hey, it was Christmas and I would much rather be spending time with my family! Plus, my chiropractor thinks something is up with my Achilles and wanted me to take it easy. He put some KT tape on it and I will continue to keep it taped through race day.

Yesterday, I was not prepared for the cold, windy and overcast weather, and froze on our run. Probably should have worn pants. Oops. It was about 40 when we started but man, that wind makes it so much worse. I think I dislike it more than the cold.

I cannot believe we are so close to Goofy, I am starting to get really excited about running, being in my favorite place, and seeing some runner friends! Who will be joining me?

QOTD: Who will be in Disney in a couple weeks? What bowl games have you been watching?

Happy Weekend! I hope you all get to enjoy the long weekend and don’t have to work too much! I am sure I will be working some on Monday but hopefully not on Tuesday. Any exciting New Year’s plans? LSU is playing in the Chic Fil A bowl so I can’t wait for that!

A fun announcement, I was chosen as one of Women’s Running Magazine’s Bloggers on the run for 2012! There were 12 chosen, and I am SO beyond flattered, humbled, and honored. I didn’t even know they were making a list, and the e mail I received last night was such a pleasant surprise, I can’t stop smiling! You can check out the article for yourself (link goes live 6 am EST) on their website. (You may remember I was chosen as a blogger on the run back in May)

Today I want to tell you about my friend Danielle from LiveRunGrow.com. I got to hang out with her some during Wine and Dine weekend and she is super sweet, and an awesome yogi. Be sure to check out her blog, can’t wait to see her again in Disney in January!

1.) How/Why did you start blogging?

I began blogging a little over a year ago shortly after I completed my first half marathon and was training for my first full to document my training and share my race experiences. I also wanted to start working on some personal growth goals and figured a blog would be a great way to hold myself accountable!

2.) Sum up your blog in a couple sentences:

Up until now Live, Run, Grow has primarily been very running and training focused, but starting this January I’ll be going back to school full time (for 5 years!) for Physical Therapy and I’ll be sharing that experience on the blog as well. Since I just completed my yoga teacher certification I also love to share yoga poses and tips for runners and athletes.

3.)What do you wish to accomplish/achieve by blogging?

My two main goals in blogging are to use it as a tool to help keep myself on track during my 5 year journey in going back to school and to document my training and races to be able to look back on. If my experiences can help and encourage others along the way then even better!

4.)What is your biggest healthy living accomplishment?

I would have to say that my biggest health living accomplishment is completing my first half marathon (my first race ever!). Before I began training for that race I probably couldn’t even run a mile, but it was something I decided to do in memory of a friend who lost her battle with Leukemia and keeping her in mind really helped carry me through my training. At the time I thought the race would be a “one and done”, but this January the Goofy Challenge will be my 5th half and 2nd full marathon!

As I mentioned in a post recently, I was asked again to be an ambassador for Verizon Wireless, this time getting the Windows 8X phone by HTC, and an Otterbox.

This phone was a bit overwhelming at first because it is different than anything I have had before in a phone. However, as a windows user, I quickly figured it out and wanted to share some of the great features with you!

-I love how lightweight and thin it is. It has a bigger screen than my iPhone (but not as big as my galaxy S3) and the buttons are flush against the phone and while it makes it very sleek, they can sometimes be slightly difficult to press, which isn’t a huge deal.

-The personalization is great, you can “pin” things to your screen, and make them bigger or smaller. You can also customize your home screen colors (love the pink obviously!) and what you want tos ee on your home screen.

-The colors are very vivid, and the camera is easy to access even from a locked phone, and it takes a very wide angled shot, so no more crowding people to fit them into your photo (one of my favorite features!)

-A couple of areas it is lacking, the social sharing is a bit more difficult straight from photos, and the marketplace is lacking in some of my favorite apps (but I hear they are working on this) so it’s definitely not a deal breaker, I have just had to get a bit more creative!

In future posts I will be talking more specifically about some of the features like the beats audio and the camera, kids corner, etc. But I just wanted to give a quick overview after using it for a couple of weeks!

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I realized I never shared photos of the outside of my house decorated for Christmas, so here ya go, my last Christmas-y post, I promise!

QOTD: What is something you wish your phone had that it doesn’t?

*Disclosure: I was provided with a device and phone service from Verizon Wireless

Good morning! I am so thrown off with Christmas being in the middle of the week, today is Thursday right? Looking back at my photos, I really did have a great Christmas, I just wish it wouldn’t have gone by so quickly. The 26th always makes me so sad. At least this year I have going to Disney in a couple weeks for Goofy to look forward to! Here is a recap of my Christmas day.

We woke up at my parents house and opened presents together in the living room. It was sadly hot, muggy, and rainy so no Christmas morning fire in the fireplace. The Christmas music was playing though, and it was great to just relax with the family. (It rained last year on Christmas day, too!)

Then we all got dressed and drove to my cousins house to be with my mom’s side of the family.

This is after lunch. We fill up these three tables!

All the female cousins and girlfriends/wives

We ate lunch and hung out exchanging gifts, then went home. It was sad to go because some of the family that was there I only get to see every other year. My sister drove back to Texas, and Bobby and my parents and I ate dinner and celebrated my moms birthday, she’s a Christmas baby!

After cake, we played Battle of the Sexes, (it’s SO FUNNY the things guys just don’t know!) and were all exhausted so we went to sleep early. I almost didn’t want to go to bed because I didn’t want the day to be over! I hope everyone had a fabulous and fun Christmas with their family and friends! I am counting down to next year already.

Christmas eve was very relaxed and a lot of fun. That morning I went shopping with my dad for a bit (he needed a gift for my mom, way to be last minute dad!) Then we did lots of cooking and baking and watching Christmas movies. Later, we got dressed for the Christmas eve service at church.

Making the same snickers cookies I make every year.

As usual, I was the first one in the car waiting on everyone else.

The church looked beautiful and the service was very nice.

After church, we had a great dinner at home while watching my favorite Christmas movie, the Santa Clause. Then, as we always do, we had my dad read the Christmas story from the Bible and we also read the Cajun night before Christmas.

Everyone was exhausted. My sister fell asleep before 8:30, and missed the readings entirely! We all went to sleep so Santa could come the next morning.

Merry Christmas! I hope you are enjoying this day with your family and friends. In the midst of the celebrating, don’t forget to remember the real reason we even celebrate Christmas to begin with. It is Jesus’ birthday, and He is the best gift of all!

Happy Christmas Eve! What is everyone doing today? Today we will do lots of baking, go to church, watch a Christmas movie, and read the Christmas story and ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. I love it.

Yesterday, Bobby and I got up and ran 3.25 miles. We ran 7 on Saturday so we were doing a back to back run to prepare for Goofy. We both feel like we are starting to burn out and get really tight, and don’t want to get injured, so we decided to cut our run short and do lots of stretching instead. I, of course, was festively dressed.

My dad BBQ’ed and we watched the Saints game my the tree and the fire.

Then my sister came into town, and we all drove about an hour away to my grandmother’s house to visit her and my uncle and have dinner with them. We came home quite tired and just watched some football until bed time. It was nice to spend some quality time with the fam. I hope you all do some unplugging today and spend time with your loved ones.

I leave you with this fun little photo. I apparently did NOT like Santa when I was a baby. He doesn’t seem too thrilled to see me either.

Merry Christmas weekend! I don’t know about you but Christmas really snuck up on me this year. it’s exciting but sad at the same time, it will be gone so quickly. One thing I am NOT sad to see go is my super long run schedule for Goofy in January. I love to run, but I do NOT love to run double digit runs every single weekend. Oy. I will gladly take a break and run some 5k’s this spring!

Yesterday after our run

Ok, so this past week in review. We ran an 18 miler last weekend, and after going to the chiropractor all week and adjusting to the newness of that, we decided to take it easy this week (also to help make sure we don’t get injured so close to the race!) This is what the week looked like:

Sunday: rest

Monday: rest

Tuesday: 30 minutes stationary bike, upper body weights

Wednesday: 20 minutes stationary bike, upper body weights

Thursday: rest

Friday: 2 miles on the treadmill

Saturday: 7 miles outside

Today we are running about 12 miles, attempting to simulate some back to back long runs to prepare for Goofy in just three short weeks! We will be celebrating Christmas with family until Wednesday, so I’m sure workouts this week will be a bit wonky too, but that’s ok, it’s Christmas! Have a great Sunday everyone, I am going to sit by the fire!

*RWS readers! You can now get a 15% discount at runningskirts.com with the code “SKIRTSASS” this code is good as much as you would like to use it, as often as you would like. I also put it up in my sidebar in case you forget later. They have GREAT workout and running gear, it’s mainly what I wear and their skirts are pretty much all I run in. Please let me know if you have any questions about the products I would be happy to answer!

Hi! I am Heather Montgomery, formerly known as Running With Sass®, a 31 year old living in Tampa, Florida with my husband and two year old daughter. I’m just a regular girl who likes to run, travel, go to Disney World, and eat junk food.
Thank you for visiting my blog! Feel free to contact me, (or for PR inquiries) at [email protected]